Tramlink, Singapore
Tramlink is a tram services that runs in Singapore. It had once ran services from 1985 onwards, of which it spreads along Pasir Ris, Tampines, Simei, Bedok, Eunos and Paya Lebar. History In 1978 Tramlink together with Tampines Primary School, put the project to Parliament and the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 resulted, which gave TPS the power to build and run Tramlink. In 1981, four consortia were shortlisted to build, operate and maintain the Tramlink: *Altram: John Laing, Ansaldo, Serco *Tampines Connect: Tarmac, AEG, Transdev *CT Light Rail Group: GEC Alsthom, Mowlem, Welsh Water *Tramtrack Tampines: CentreWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Robert McAlpine, Amey, Bombardier Transportation In 1982 Tramtrack Tampines (TC) won a 99-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract to design, build, operate and maintain Tramlink. The equity partners in TC were Amey (50%), Royal Bank of Scotland (20%), 3i (20%) and Sir Robert McAlpine with Bombardier Transportation contracted to build and maintain the trams and FirstGroup operate the service. TC retained the revenue generated by Tramlink and LRT had to pay compensation to TC for any changes to the fares and ticketing policy introduced later. Rolling Stock and Depots Tramlink had GT6N, KT4D, T6A2, B6A2 and Flexity Swift vehicles. *M (1985 - 1999) *Pt (1989 - 2004) *T6A2 (1995 - 2008) *B6A2 (1995 - 2008) *KT4D (1998 - 2008) *GT6N (2004 - present) *Flexity Swift (2008 - present) *Flexity Classic (2009 - present) In 2008, there are 34 GT6N and 30 Flexity Swift. There are 20 more Flexity Classic trams being delivered to serve the patronage. There are two depots in the Tramlink area. These include - North Depot (at Tampines North New Town) and South Depot (at Golden Carnation). A new depot, at Kembangan around the Astoria Park was built to serve the dead mileage and to allow expansion of the tram network. Maintenance vehicles Engineers' vehicles used in Tramlink construction were hired for that purpose. In November 2006 Croydon Tramlink purchased five second-hand engineering vehicles from Deutsche Bahn. These were two DB class Klv 53 engineers' trams (numbered 058 and 059 in Tramline service), and three 4-wheel wagons (numbered 060, 061, and 062). Service tram 058 and trailer 061 were both sold to the National Tramway Museum in 2010. Current system Stops The tram stops have low platforms, above rail level. They are unstaffed and have automated ticket machines. In general, access between the platforms involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. There are being long. They are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than . This allows wheelchairs, prams, pushchairs and the elderly to board the tram easily with no steps. In street sections, the stop is integrated with the pavement. All stops have disabled access, raised paving, CCTV, a Passenger Help Point, a Passenger Information Display (PID), litter bins, a ticket machine, a noticeboard and lamp-posts, and most also have seats and a shelter. The PIDs display the destinations and expected arrival times of the next two trams. They can also display any message the controllers want to display, such as information on delays or even instructions to vandals to stop placing objects on the track. Fares and ticketing EZ-Link and bus passes are valid on Tramlink. Cash fares and EZ-Link card fares fares are the same as on Singapore Buses, although special fares may apply when using Tramlink feeder buses. When using EZ-Link Cards, passengers must touch in on the platform before boarding the tram. Commuters can travel for free if they are interchangeable with services 291, 292 and 293 from 13 July 2017. Routes *Route 6: Sims Place - TPS E-Hub Frequency: 6 - 7 mins (11 trams) *Route 7: Tampines Primary School - Tampines Street 45 (Loop) Frequency: 8 - 10 mins (6 trams) *Route M1: Springfield Secondary School - Paya Lebar Airport Frequency: 6 mins (10 trams) *Route M2: Tampines Polytechnic - Timothy ION Frequency: 10 mins (16 trams) *Route M3: Changi Business Park - Paya Lebar - Sims Place - Bugis Frequency: 5 mins (32 trams) *Route M4: Hougang - Tampines West CC Frequency: 7 mins (6 trams) *Route M8: Tampines Primary School - Tampines Street 84 (Loop) Frequency: 10 mins (2 trams) *Route M10: East View Secondary School - Marina Barrage Frequency: 6 - 7 mins (20 trams) *Route M13: Flora Road - TPS E-Hub Frequency: 12 - 14 mins (7 trams) *Route M14: Tampines Primary School - IKEA Tampines Frequency: 15 mins (6 trams) Future Plans There will be trams returning after 2017, these will see trams returning into the west, thus allowing Tampines Primary School students to exercise their social outings. *Tampines Primary School - Tampines Concourse - Tampines North - IKEA Tampines (Opening on 13 July 2017) *Bugis - SMU - Dhoby Ghaut - Oxley Road Tampines is required to have a better planning for Tramlink, before moving on to the Pasir Ris area. On 13 July 2017, it was announced that the Tramlink route M5 running from TPS E-Hub to Tampines GreenTerrace will be cut, the reason is that the demand for Tampines Street 11 and Street 22 is quite low. And for route 6, this will be shortened to TPS E-Hub, as the demand might be too low and it is too long. Route 1 will be extended to Springfield Secondary School via the former route 6 routing as a result. To compensate the route cut, route 3 will also be shortened to Changi Business Park. The Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus, SBS bus service 20 and 69 took over the compensated routing. Further details of the planned major expansion of the Singapore tram network began in May. It includes a wider return of the trams as suggested: *Marina Barrage - Marina South - Marina Boulevard - Shenton Way - Tanjong Pagar West (Construction began in August 2018) *Hougang - Serangoon North - Tavistock - Cheng San - Ang Mo Kio - Nanyang Polytechnic (Construction began in August 2018) *Tampines Polytechnic - Tampines North - Lorong Halus (Construction began in August 2018) In 19 December 2019, further plans were made to extend from Lorong Halus via the Pasir Ris Bridge, Riviera to Punggol. Accidents On 19 September 2008, the bus on route 291 travelled through the red signal and crashed with the 2534 in Tampines Avenue 2. On 9 November 2016, the tram 2551 was derailed at the sharp curved junction, just next to Tampines Avenue 8 along the Springfield Secondary School, killing seven people and injuring 2. The Singapore Transport Police arrested the driver on suspicion on manslaughter, and it was travelling at the excessive speed. Onboard announcements The onboard announcements are by BBC News reader (and tram enthusiast) Nicholas Owen. The announcement pattern is as follows: e.g. This tram is for Wimbledon, The next stop will be Merton Park.